LinkedIn Introduces Notifications a la Facebook
September 20, 2012
Is LinkedIn poised to push Facebook aside? Not exactly, but Wired declares that “Facebook Won’t Like this LinkedIn News.” Journalist Ryan Tate explains that LinkedIn has recently begun adding notifications—the site will soon let users know if someone has viewed their profile or “liked” something they’ve shared. The feature looks remarkably similar to such functionality on Facebook, he says.
Tate wondered why the jobs-focused site would deliberately add in anything distracting. Then he ponders the forces behind such developments asMicrosoft‘s acquisition of Yammer and Salesforce.com‘s purchase of Rypple, both of which can provide a wealth of distraction to workers. Also, he observes that corporations have embraced social media in all its glory as a way to grow their businesses and share information. He writes:
“Linkedin is trying to graduate from a simple resumé-and-headhunting site into something big — Facebook big — in a sector where increased communication pays real dividends, and not just for advertisers. LinkedIn’s ambitions are no doubt stoked by enthusiasm from Wall Street, which has bid up LinkedIn stock 36 percent since the company’s May 2011 IPO. Since Facebook went public in mid May, LinkedIn stock has climbed 14 percent, compared to a decline of 51 percent for Facebook shares. LinkedIn is now worth nearly one-third as much as Facebook in the eyes of the stock market.”
The article does note that LinkedIn is not (so far) competing directly with Facebook, which has yet to specifically target office relationships. However, if they ever decide to pursue that market, Facebook may find that LinkedIn has it all locked up.
Cynthia Murrell, September 20, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Google+ Gaining Ground in Business
September 19, 2012
Is Google+ getting hotter? It would seem so, according to CNet News’ “You Say Google+ is a Ghost Land? Time to Revisit That One.” The site is still no threat to Facebook, but writer Peter Yared makes a strong case that a focus on small businesses makes Google+ more relevant than many people realize.
Google’s link-every-product approach succeeds in giving the company an advantage, in this case specifically with searches for small businesses. Such a search prominently displays an image of the business’ Google+ Local profile next to the search results; many users click on that page rather than going to the business’ own site or another information provider. Voila, more clicks for Google!
That is just one example, though. Yared notes other ways in which Google+ seems to be positioning itself as a crucial resource for businesses. Google is leveraging last year’s purchase of Zagat by incorporating its local business reviews. It is also soon likely, he says, to integrate content from its more recent acquisition, the travel guide site Frommer’s. He concludes:
“Google+ has rapidly become the business social network, differentiating itself from LinkedIn as a promotional and communication network rather than a public directory of employees. (Google just announced Google+ features for medium to large businesses.) Google+ is already a great place for small businesses to create an online presence that gets a lot of traffic and provides users with context such as reviews and location. It will likely soon let users opt-in to a business’ ‘circles,’ then allow businesses to shoot promotional material straight to a user’s Google+ inbox, also known as Gmail. Now that’s a winning small business strategy.”
Yared may be on to something here. Does Google’s future lie, at least in part, in becoming a primary resource for small businesses? Stranger things have happened.
Cynthia Murrell, September 19, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Bottlenose Offers Real Time Social Media Search
September 17, 2012
Venture Beat recently reported on the new social media search engine, Bottlenose, in the article, “Move Over Google, Bottlenose Launches Search Engine for the ‘Now’ Era.”
According to the article, Bottlenose has spent the last two years perfecting its advanced solution. It is search for social networks and aims to organize the world’s attention by creating a filter that finds, sorts, and organizes the social updates of the greatest importance, as they happen, around any given query.
When explaining how it works, the article states:
“Bottlenose, which runs atop a javascript and HTML5 platform, spits out a “Now” page for every query that includes top stories, trending topics related to the subject, trending people, images, recent links, and fresh comments from social networks. Spivack likens the pages to Wikipedia entries, except that Bottlenose pages are automatically edited based on what the crowd is sharing. The pages will also appear in search engines, exposing Bottlenose’s brainpower and its ever-changing pages to the traditional searchers of the world.”
While Bottlenose has a lot to offer, it is going to take a lot to convince consumers and professionals that it offers more than just the run-of-the-mill search experience.
Jasmine Ashton, September 17, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Wajam Plug In Offers Social Search Capabilities
September 13, 2012
The endless data users are providing to social networks via statuses and check-ins is being harnessed by a new search tool, Wajam. A review of the service, “Review: Wajam, a Tool for Searching Socially,” on Technology Review tells us how the approach works. Queries will yield results from related posts from your friends on different social networking sites. The free plug-in brings in up a pop-up containing this data and is also available in an iPhone app.
The review tells us more about the service’s capabilities:
“Wajam bests the big guys with its availability and flexibility. You can use it on all four major browsers (Firefox, Internet Explorer, Chrome, and Safari), and it pulls up relevant social data on both the obvious websites and less-expected ones like IMDb, TripAdvisor, and Shopping.com. Once you sign up on the site and download the plug-in, your Wajam results show up as a pop-up on the page, sometimes with ads (although you can turn ads off in Wajam’s settings).”
Although the reviewer cites some kinks (sluggish, only works on 3G,) it’s easy to see this type of search becoming the norm because we tend to care about and value opinions and experiences of people we know. Companies like Google and Microsoft are also harnessing this data to personalize results and we are curious to see where social search will grow and improve.
Andrea Hayden, September 13, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Alternative Niche Social Networks Expanding and Succeeding
September 12, 2012
Social networking is here to stay. However, it seems the kings of the market, Facebook and Twitter, have some decent competition arising. “Six Alternative Social Networks” on ZeroPaid informs us of alternative social networks that have seen an increase in global market share. Obvious forerunners were Instagram and Pinterest, but other networks are also seeing a boost.
We learn in the article:
“[James Murray, Digital Insights Manager at Experian] also revealed that the future looks bright for alternative social networks, citing technological advancements as a key factor in the increased number of alternative sites:
‘Over the next 12 months, we expect to see a proliferation of niche social networks. Offering deeper functionality combined with a lower technical barrier to entry will mean new leaders in social media being created in a matter of days versus weeks and months.’”
While the numbers for the little guys arising in the social networking arena are nowhere near reaching the gladiators Facebook and Twitter, it is exciting to see where the community is heading. Newcomers are successful when they offer something different and identify a specific niche to reach consumers. No one is going to be the “next Facebook,” but there are still plenty of open opportunities for new networks.
Andrea Hayden, September 12, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Open Source Technology Embraced by Social Leader Twitter
September 10, 2012
Most Tweeters are likely not aware that they are using open source technology every time they use the social networking site. We get a good look at Twitter’s open source approach in the article “The Open Source Technology Behind Every Tweet” on Datamation. The article gives insight from Chris Aniszcyzyk, the open source manager at Twitter. Twitter technology runs on the Java Virtual Machine and uses Scala programming language.
The article informs us:
“Aniszcyzyk stressed that Twitter isn’t just a consumer of open source technologies, it also contributes, too.
At the the top of Aniszcyzyk’s list of Twitter’s open source contributions is the Bootstrap HTML framework. Bootstrap is routinely one of the most popular project on the GitHub open source code repository.
Overall, Aniszcyzyk says that Twitter now has over 80 projects on GitHub. Rather than list them all alphabetically, he detailed the anatomy of how a Tweet is sent and delivered using open source tech.”
Twitter is debatably one of the most prevalent and important companies of our time as social networking becomes king of the Web. This embrace of open source technology may mean big things to come for companies that specialize in this technology as they gain more recognition.
Andrea Hayden, September 10, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Facebook Called to Improve Search Functionality to Compete
September 10, 2012
A call for Facebook to do a better job with on-site search is being repeated from leading advertising industry analysts. One of the next steps for the social networking giant needs to be integrating on-site search and ad targeting functions regarding these searches. In an article on MediaPost titled, “Facebook Must Improve Site Search to Stay Competitive,” we learn that better site search could (and should) improve ROI for advertisers on the social networking site.
The article also informs us:
“For Facebook to ‘truly go after Google’ it will need to compete in search, and Google must go after social to compete with Facebook, according to Brian Solis, principal at research group Altimeter Group, and Pivot conference editorial director. ‘It took years for Google to create an algorithm to serve up the correct pages from a search query, but Facebook doesn’t have the luxury of time,’ he said.”
With the stock price looking anemic, Facebook may want to follow advice and get in gear. No one at the company would respond to comments, but it is predicted that revenue should begin to increase if Facebook continues to roll out new ad products and improve search functionality of the site.
Andrea Hayden, September 10, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Curators and Social Networking Communities Collide
September 7, 2012
An interesting interview concerning the value of curation in networked communities caught my eye today. According to Content Curation World, we should all just forget search and go with content curation. The interview with “cyberculture pioneer” Howard Rheingold is discussed in the article, “Curators Create the Metadata Needed to Enable Our Emerging Collective Intelligence. ” Rheingold believes curation is a “fundamental building block” in social networking communities.
Rheingold speaks on the value of curation on the Internet:
“But the kind of curation that is already mining the mountains of Internet ore for useful and trustworthy nuggets of knowledge, and the kind that will come in the future, has a strong literacy element.
Curators don’t just add good-looking resources to lists, or add their vote through a link or like, they summarize and contextualize in their own words, explicitly explain why the resource is worthy of attention, choose relevant excerpts, tag thoughtfully, group resources and clearly describe the grouping criteria.”
It seems the belief is held that unless the overwhelming amount of information in networked communities is sorted by a trained curator, the public is not empowered enough to make the correct decisions as to what information is important to them. So should we trust a curator to help us when we need to find something of value to us? I am not sure that is a great idea.
Andrea Hayden, September 07, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext.
Bing Search Volume Drops Following Social-Focused Updates
September 7, 2012
Few search engines have the capacity and the reach to compete with Google, But Microsoft’s Bing had slowly become a threat to the search giant. However, Hitwise reported that Bing had reportedly lost 4% of a drop in search volume this July. Neowin.net reported on the loss in the article, “Bing Search Volume Drops 4%,” and the possible reasons behind the small fall.
We learn:
“Hitwise says that July’s estimated 4% drop in searches came on the heels of a 5% gain in May, which is around the time Microsoft launched Bing’s ‘Sidebar’ feature, alongside a major social-focused update to the search engine. Even though Hitwise speculates that the update could be behind Bing’s loss, we’re not so sure, since it really wasn’t that significant of a change, in terms of Bing’s basic function.”
Numbers like this fluctuate regularly, and Hitwise’s results were based on estimates, but the number should still be a concern for Microsoft. What does Microsoft have to do to build consistently its share of search traffic? We think the heavy integration into new Windows products will help, but perhaps the company should take note and listen to users who were unhappy with the switch to social.
Andrea Hayden, September 07, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Former Facebooker Airs Social Doubts
August 29, 2012
Ex-Facebook employee Katherine Losse has become a rebel, of sorts. The Washington Post declares, “Refugee from Facebook Questions The Social Media Life.” The former Zuckerberg ghostwriter found herself growing uncomfortable with the level of privacy invasion her employer, and other tech companies, were engaged in. So, she cashed in some of her valuable Facebook stock, moved to a tiny Texas town, and wrote a tell-all: “The Boy Kings: A Journey Into the Heart of the Social Network”. Oh, and she took down her own Facebook page. For a little while, at least.
Losse cites an encounter with a colleague, an engineer who was working on video-upload functionality. She tells us he made, and circulated on an internal Facebook page, a video of her napping in a car during a road trip. The article relates:
“‘The day before, I could just be in a car being in a car. Now my being in a car is a performance that is visible to everyone,’ Losse said, exasperation creeping into her voice. ‘It’s almost like there is no middle of nowhere anymore.’
Losse began comparing Facebook to the iconic 1976 Eagles song ‘Hotel California,’ with its haunting coda, ‘You can check out anytime you want, but you can never leave.’ She put a copy of the record jacket on prominent display in a house she and several other employees shared not far from the headquarters.”
Ah, the Eagles; it is a classic song. The article spends some time discussing Losse’s book, Facebook in general, and Losse’s new home in Marfa, NC. Not a bad read, even if it does have a bit of a conspiracy-theory feel to it. It wraps up with a description of Losses’ current search for balance in her own life between technology and the real world. Touching.
Cynthia Murrell, August 29, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
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